Updated: 11:20:36
President Jakaya Kikwete has been discharged from the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States on Wednesday evening after a successful surgery.
ATLANTA – President Jakaya Kikwete underwent successful prostate surgery at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the United States over the weekend, the president’s office said.
Kikwete, 64, has led east Africa’s second-biggest economy since 2005 but must step down next year at the end of his second and final term in office.
The operation was performed on Saturday, his office said on Sunday, without giving details on the nature of the surgery.
“The surgery… which lasted for one and a half hours, was highly successful. The president’s condition is improving, but he is still in a hospital ward under medical supervision and receiving treatment,” the presidency said in a statement.
The president’s office said in a previous statement on Nov. 6 Kikwete would spend 10 days in the U.S. for a medical check up.
Tanzania plans to hold presidential and parliamentary elections in October 2015, which will be preceded by a referendum on a new constitution in April.
meantime Negotiation teams from Malawi and Tanzania are meeting to resolve a dispute over a lake straddling the two countries’ common border.
Malawi Minister of Foreign Affairs George Chaponda said last Thursday that the team will among other things disclose progress made so far in resolving the impasse.
“The team will also seek to meet President Peter Mutharika because their work started with the previous administration so it is proper for them to meet the new leadership” he said.
The chief negotiators are former Presidents Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, Thabo Mbeki of South Africa and Festus Mogae of Botswana.
The impasse between Malawi and Tanzania began in 2012 when the latter claimed part of the lake which it calls Lake Tanganyika.
Malawi said it owned the whole lake according to a 1954 Heligoland agreement and referred to it as Lake Malawi.
